(a) The director may enter the premises of any person who is discharging stormwater into the stormwater drainage system, waters of the United States, or state water to determine if the discharger is complying with all requirements of this article and of any applicable state or federal discharge permit, limitation, or requirement.
(b) A discharger shall:
(1) allow the director ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, records examination and copying, and the performance of any additional duties;
(2) make available to the director, within two hours of request, any stormwater pollution prevention plans or modifications to plans, self- inspection reports, monitoring records, compliance evaluations, notices of intent, and other records, reports, and documents required by the NPDES permit or TPDES permit; and
(3) retain and provide to the director, upon request, any annual, semi-annual, or periodic monitoring reports as required by the NPDES or TPDES permit.
(c) If a discharger has security measures in force that require proper identification and clearance before entry into the premises, the discharger shall make necessary arrangements with its security guards so that, upon presentation of suitable identification, the director is permitted to enter without delay for the purpose of performing the director’s responsibilities.
(d) The director shall have the right to install on the discharger’s property, or to require installation of, such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling or metering of the discharger’s operations.
(e) The director may require any discharger that contributes a harmful quantity of a pollutant to the stormwater drainage system, waters of the United States, or state water to conduct specified sampling, testing, analysis, and other monitoring of its stormwater discharges. The director may specify the frequency and parameters of any required monitoring.
(f) The director may require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary at the discharger’s expense. The discharger, at its own expense, shall at all times maintain the facility’s sampling and monitoring equipment in a safe and proper operating condition. Each device used to measure stormwater flow and quality must be calibrated to ensure accuracy.
(g) Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to a facility that is to be inspected or sampled must be promptly removed by the discharger at the written or verbal request of the director and may not be replaced. The cost of clearing access to the facility must be borne by the discharger.
(h) A person commits an offense if he:
(1) lawfully consents to the director’s entry into a facility that discharges stormwater, but then knowingly obstructs or hinders the director in accessing the facility for the lawful purposes of inspection or sampling; or
(2) knowingly obstructs or hinders the director in accessing, for the lawful purposes of inspection or sampling pursuant to a lawfully issued administrative search warrant, a facility that discharges stormwater.
(i) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from exercising the constitutional right to require that entry to a site or any other property be made pursuant to a validly issued administrative or other search warrant, except where a search warrant is not required by law. (Ord. Nos. 24033; 28461)